Johnny Cash Boy Named Sue [live] Lyrics

Boy Named Sue [live] Lyrics

My daddy left home when I was three

And he didn't leave much to ma and
me

Just this old guitar and an empty bottle of booze.

Now, I don't
blame him cause he run and hid

But the meanest thing that he ever did

Was before he left, he went and named me "Sue."



Well, he must o'
thought that was quite a joke

And it got a lot of laughs from a' lots of
folk,

It seems I had to fight my whole life through.

Some gal would
giggle and I'd get red

And some guy'd laugh and I'd bust his head,

I
tell ya, life ain't easy for a boy named "Sue."



Well, I grew up
quick and I grew up mean,

My fist got hard and my wits got keen,

I'd roam from town to town to hide my shame.

But I made me a vow to the
moon and stars

That I'd search the honky-tonks and bars

And kill
that man who give me that awful name.



Well, it was Gatlinburg in
mid-July

And I just hit town and my throat was dry,

I thought I'd
stop and have myself a brew.

At an old saloon on a street of mud,

There at a table, dealing stud,

Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me
"Sue."



Well, I knew that snake was my own sweet dad

From a
worn-out picture that my mother'd had,

And I knew that scar on his cheek
and his evil eye.

He was big and bent and gray and old,

And I
looked at him and my blood ran cold

And I said: "My name is 'Sue!' How do
you do!

Now you're gonna die!!"



Well, I hit him hard right
between the eyes

And he went down, but to my surprise,

He come up
with a knife and cut off a piece of my ear.

But I busted a chair right
across his teeth

And we crashed through the wall and into the street

Kicking and a' gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.



I
tell ya, I've fought tougher men

But I really can't remember when,

He kicked like a mule and he bit like a crocodile.

I heard him laugh
and then I heard him cuss,

He went for his gun and I pulled mine
first,

He stood there lookin' at me and I saw him smile.



And
he said: "Son, this world is rough

And if a man's gonna make it, he's
gotta be tough

And I knew I wouldn't be there to help ya along.

So
I give ya that name when I said goodbye

I knew you'd have to get tough or
die

And it's the name that helped to make you strong."



"Now
you just fought one hell of a fight

And I know you hate me, and you got
the right

To kill me now, and I wouldn't blame you if you do.

But
ya ought to thank me, before I die,

For the gravel in ya guts and the
spit in ya eye

Cause I'm the son-of-a-bitch that named you "Sue.'"



I got all choked up and I threw down my gun

And I called him my
pa, and he called me his son,

And I came away with a different point of
view.

And I think about him, now and then,

Every time I try and
every time I win,

And if I ever have a son, I think I'm gonna name
him

Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name!